From the farm to the table

Jannette Pippin Daily News Staff jannette_pippin

Thursday

Nov 26, 2015 at 9:00 AM

When Megan Urquhart and her family sit down for their Thanksgiving meal they'll give thanks for the meal before them and the opportunity to know just how their main course made it to the dinner table.While many families across Eastern North Carolina likely picked up their turkey from the local grocery store in preparation for the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal, the Sneads Ferry family was among those who chose to bring home a turkey raised locally and fresh from the farm to the dinner table.

When Megan Urquhart and her family sit down for their Thanksgiving meal they’ll give thanks for the meal before them and the opportunity to know just how their main course made it to the dinner table.

While many families across Eastern North Carolina likely picked up their turkey from the local grocery store in preparation for the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal, the Sneads Ferry family was among those who chose to bring home a turkey raised locally and fresh from the farm to the dinner table.

Urquhart said she watched a documentary several years ago about corporate farming and food industry and it raised concerns about the treatment of the animals being raised and the quality of the food produced.

“I saw the documentary Food Inc. and it changed my opinion about where we get our meat,” she said.

Urquhart and her husband, Marshall, were joined by friend Samantha Harrison of Camp Lejeune, and their children, Sunday at The Barnyard in Newport to pick up their turkey.

They left with a 20-pound bird after helping to pluck the feathers from the turkey harvested from the small family-operated petting farm and agri-business in Carteret County.

It was the first year the Urquhart family purchased a turkey direct from the farm, and Megan said she liked seeing the farm and how the animals were raised.

“They treat the animals a lot better than factory farms, and that makes me feel better,” she said.

Kim Nead of The Barnyard said their family has been involved in 4-H and they initially purchased the property for their two horses. As their daughter got involved in showing a variety of animals, the farm grew.

“We quickly went from horses to other animals,” Nead said.

The ideas for use of the land also expanded to a small agribusiness that opened in 2010.

Kim Nead said the farm primarily serves as a petting zoo type-farm, offering birthday parties and field trips, to provide farm animal education for children and adults.

It’s a place where children and adults can roam among the animals, getting a hands-on look at goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows, turkey and sheep.

“They get out here and they are able to touch and hold the animals,” she said.

Nead said they take pride in raising quality animals in a humane and sustainable way, but the young animals outgrow the petting zoo business and a natural extension of the business is the offering of meat cuts and farm fresh eggs.

Nead said this marked the second year that the farm offered the sale of their farm-raised turkeys for Thanksgiving.

“It started just as our own interest and then people would ask us if we had turkeys available for sale,” she said. “We figured there was a need. Questions would arise and people would ask, ‘Do you have any extras?’ It was an indication there was a need.”

The interest prompted them to look into getting a license to sell and last year gave it a try. They tried an American domestic black species but they didn’t grow as fast or as heavy as they needed to be.

They switched this year to broad breasted brown turkeys. They grew well and were ready a little earlier than anticipated, but The Barnyard saw the number of orders double from last year as well as the number of available turkeys double.

Nead said they raised 25 turkeys from the time they were 3 days old. While eight grew heavier than the 20 pounds many anticipated, customers either went with the smaller 10-pound turkey, agreed to a larger turkey, or canceled because the size was too large for their need.

Nead said they ordered the baby turkey, called poult, in April and will be adjusting the timing next year so that they are not ready too soon.

The process has been a learning experience for them, but Nead said all their animals and are born and raised in North Carolina and they know the products leaving their farm.

“Definitely there is a lot of interest,” Nead said. “People ask questions about the animals, where they were raised and where the food is coming from. A lot of people want to know how the animals are being treated.”

For Lydia Eastman of Atlantic Beach, her interest in healthy eating brought her to The Barnyard.

“I’m very attentive to what I eat. I don’t normally eat meat but for Thanksgiving I wanted to get the family involved in eating healthy,” she said.

By picking up a fresh, locally raised turkey, Eastman said she knows exactly where their food is coming from.

She was able to pick the turkey and helped to process it, which primarily involved removing the feathers after it had been killed.

While customers had the option of picking up their turkey when it was ready, Eastman liked the option of being able to help prepare the bird before its trip to the dinner table.

“I thought it was really cool that we could be a part of the process,” she said.

New Bern resident Jessica McQuaig arrived with her two sons to pick up a 10-pound turkey for their family Thanksgiving meal.

She said she learned about The Barnyard after her son, Connor, went on a field trip to the farm with his kindergarten class from Arthur Edwards Elementary in Havelock.

“I like to support local business and with this agribusiness we know where the food comes from and we’re supporting local at the same time,” McQuaig said.

Melissa Gray of Jacksonville currently raises about 70 sheep on 30 acres on her farm off N.C. 111.

While the sheep are her focus, she is raising several Heritage breed turkeys and hopes to have several available in time for Thanksgiving next year.

Gray participates in the Onslow County Farmers Market and said she decided to raise a few turkeys after hearing the interest from customers buying lamb from her.

“I sell 40 to 60 lambs each year. People are very much interested in farm to table,” Gray said. “They want to know how their food was raised and where it came from.”

She said there is a market for fresh, local, farm-raised turkey just as there is for other locally grown and raised products.

“If they know who their farmer is they have some idea of where and how the food was raised,” she said.

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